Robyn Perkins (is a) Work in Progress

The next show I went to see was Robyn Perkins (is a) Work in Progress (Bar 50, 1435). I saw a taster 10 minute set from this at Tom and Adele’s Birthday Party last night and this did its’ job in making me want to see more. Despite Perkins’ flyer having gone AWOL there was still a decent sized audience in the room, with a definite gender split in favour of women. This was slightly irritating, as there is plenty in her show for chaps as well as ladies and I’d hate to think of guys missing out on this due to any preconceived ideas.

Perkins radiates nervous energy and chats quickly, she also looks as if she is having the time of her life and this is all really engaging. As an Anglo-American she did a quick search for people from the States and further afield, which netted her Paul of Chicago, who was fortuitously sat on the front row. He featured a few times within the show as her go to guy for questions and confirmations, but this was all done in a friendly and non-threatening manner. Perkins discussed her background, which was both interesting and also easy to comprehend for anyone with limited knowledge of New Hampshire. There was a bit of momentum lost when she became aware of a rogue noise that was buzzing merrily away, but such was the endearing appeal of Perkins that she easily rode this out without it really harming her show. There were a number of highlights to this performance, such as the intonations she used on the words ‘should and ‘job’ when describing her sister and the gag about the end of her (fictional) shift coming whilst on a bus was brilliant. The names of cocktails were delightful and there was a possibly missed chance for a call back to this when she was describing dancing with her friends and partners after having had a few drinks. The only section that seemed to need a bit more work was when she was discussing her boyfriend. This was still funny, but didn’t seem to quite have the impact of the other material and was perhaps the only time when the surprisingly high number of laughs per minute dropped slightly.

This was a show that dealt with no big issues and won’t change anyone’s views, but was just good enjoyable fun with a lot of laughter. It’s a definite cure for anyone who has a dull afternoon and fancies some good fun.